In her intriguing interview with Phil Cartwright, Belinda Carlisle speaks about her journey since the days of Go-Go’s and her solo career, with Kundalini yoga, chant music…leading to Wilder Shores, her mantra-pop album.
Remember her hit Heaven Is a Place On Earth? Listen to the new and beautiful slowed down version. 1
In Kundalini Yoga the most important thing is your experience. It goes right to your heart. No words can replace your experience. Your mind may accept the words or it may not, but your consciousness will not accept just words.
Yogi Bhajan, The Aquarian Teacher Training manual
Belinda speaks about what is kundalini yoga, which is completely different than hatha yoga for example. She was introduced nearly 30 years ago and she still goes to class, and almost always goes to the Sat Nam Fest at Joshua Tree, USA.
It was at age 40 when she was dropped by her music label that she began looking for something bigger than herself. She explored Buddhism (that book – The Buddha in Your Mirror), chanting, and more than a decade ago found sobriety.
Chanting hours a day helped her through the “mess that caught up with me”. A new phase of her life happened with a kundalini experience that “changed everything for me and it took two weeks to process.”
The seed of making of a chant album goes back five years. Staying with her roots as a pop singer, rather than a kirtan singer2 and infusing with her personal practice comes the Wilder Shores.
The album includes the magical mantra Ek Ong Kar Sat Gur Prasad, her slowed-down version of Heaven Is a Place On Earth, Light of the Soul (I am the light of the soul. I am beautiful. I am bountiful. I am blissful. I am), and the beautiful Longtime Sun sung at the end of kundalini classes.
Listen to her interview to hear what her realizations were, the most amazing part of her journey, and be inspired and transported by some of the chants from the album.
In kirtan, we sing our praises to the divine in the many forms in which it manifests.
Deva Premal
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Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven, love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
When the night falls down
I wait for you and you come around
And the world’s alive with the sound
Of kids on the street outside
When you walk into the room
You pull me close and we start to move
And we’re spinning with the stars above
And you lift me up in a wave of love
Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
When I feel alone, I reach for you
And you bring me home
When I’m lost at sea I hear your voice
And it carries me
In this world we’re just beginning
To understand the miracle of living
Baby, I was afraid before
But I’m not afraid anymore
Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth.
They say in heaven love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
In this world we’re just beginning
To understand the miracle of living
Baby, I was afraid before
But I’m not afraid anymore
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Looking for more information on Kundalini?
Try these –
Spirit Voyage
3HO
Yogi Bhajan
Kundalini Research Institute
1 First performed acoustically at a yoga event to support Marianne Williamson. She shared this version during the Savasana pose portion of Seanne Corn’s class and many people responded to it, seeing it as a song of hope. You can also hear this song in this interview. And if you want to sing along, here are the lyrics.
2 Kirtan is Mantra Meditation “to praise that which is exalted”, a direct experience of heart opening, combining voice with traditional instruments such as harmonium.
cover photo for this article by Joshua Cowan of Old Harry Rocks, Dorset, England.
